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New Student-Loan Data Shows Higher Repayments But Higher Distress

The Education Department has just released a new set of data covering the state of the federal student loan portfolio at the start of the second quarter of 2016. Income-driven repayment, a system of making loan payments commensurate with earnings, is growing more popular. While repayments have ticked up slightly, defaults have also risen. Overall, the release sends some very mixed messages about the condition of nearly $1.3 trillion in outstanding loans.